Classifications

• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C11—ANIMAL OR VEGETABLE OILS, FATS, FATTY SUBSTANCES OR WAXES; FATTY ACIDS THEREFROM; DETERGENTS; CANDLES
  • C11D—DETERGENT COMPOSITIONS; USE OF SINGLE SUBSTANCES AS DETERGENTS; SOAP OR SOAP-MAKING; RESIN SOAPS; RECOVERY OF GLYCEROL
  • C11D1/00—Detergent compositions based essentially on surface-active compounds; Use of these compounds as a detergent
  • C11D1/02—Anionic compounds
  • C11D1/12—Sulfonic acids or sulfuric acid esters; Salts thereof
  • C11D1/14—Sulfonic acids or sulfuric acid esters; Salts thereof derived from aliphatic hydrocarbons or mono-alcohols
  • C11D1/146—Sulfuric acid esters
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C11—ANIMAL OR VEGETABLE OILS, FATS, FATTY SUBSTANCES OR WAXES; FATTY ACIDS THEREFROM; DETERGENTS; CANDLES
  • C11D—DETERGENT COMPOSITIONS; USE OF SINGLE SUBSTANCES AS DETERGENTS; SOAP OR SOAP-MAKING; RESIN SOAPS; RECOVERY OF GLYCEROL
  • C11D1/00—Detergent compositions based essentially on surface-active compounds; Use of these compounds as a detergent
  • C11D1/02—Anionic compounds
  • C11D1/37—Mixtures of compounds all of which are anionic
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C11—ANIMAL OR VEGETABLE OILS, FATS, FATTY SUBSTANCES OR WAXES; FATTY ACIDS THEREFROM; DETERGENTS; CANDLES
  • C11D—DETERGENT COMPOSITIONS; USE OF SINGLE SUBSTANCES AS DETERGENTS; SOAP OR SOAP-MAKING; RESIN SOAPS; RECOVERY OF GLYCEROL
  • C11D11/00—Special methods for preparing compositions containing mixtures of detergents ; Methods for using cleaning compositions
  • C11D11/0082—Special methods for preparing compositions containing mixtures of detergents ; Methods for using cleaning compositions one or more of the detergent ingredients being in a liquefied state, e.g. slurry, paste or melt, and the process resulting in solid detergent particles such as granules, powders or beads
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C11—ANIMAL OR VEGETABLE OILS, FATS, FATTY SUBSTANCES OR WAXES; FATTY ACIDS THEREFROM; DETERGENTS; CANDLES
  • C11D—DETERGENT COMPOSITIONS; USE OF SINGLE SUBSTANCES AS DETERGENTS; SOAP OR SOAP-MAKING; RESIN SOAPS; RECOVERY OF GLYCEROL
  • C11D17/00—Detergent materials or soaps characterised by their shape or physical properties
  • C11D17/0039—Coated compositions or coated components in the compositions, (micro)capsules
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C11—ANIMAL OR VEGETABLE OILS, FATS, FATTY SUBSTANCES OR WAXES; FATTY ACIDS THEREFROM; DETERGENTS; CANDLES
  • C11D—DETERGENT COMPOSITIONS; USE OF SINGLE SUBSTANCES AS DETERGENTS; SOAP OR SOAP-MAKING; RESIN SOAPS; RECOVERY OF GLYCEROL
  • C11D1/00—Detergent compositions based essentially on surface-active compounds; Use of these compounds as a detergent
  • C11D1/02—Anionic compounds
  • C11D1/12—Sulfonic acids or sulfuric acid esters; Salts thereof
  • C11D1/14—Sulfonic acids or sulfuric acid esters; Salts thereof derived from aliphatic hydrocarbons or mono-alcohols
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C11—ANIMAL OR VEGETABLE OILS, FATS, FATTY SUBSTANCES OR WAXES; FATTY ACIDS THEREFROM; DETERGENTS; CANDLES
  • C11D—DETERGENT COMPOSITIONS; USE OF SINGLE SUBSTANCES AS DETERGENTS; SOAP OR SOAP-MAKING; RESIN SOAPS; RECOVERY OF GLYCEROL
  • C11D1/00—Detergent compositions based essentially on surface-active compounds; Use of these compounds as a detergent
  • C11D1/02—Anionic compounds
  • C11D1/12—Sulfonic acids or sulfuric acid esters; Salts thereof
  • C11D1/29—Sulfates of polyoxyalkylene ethers

Definitions

• This invention relates to heterogeneous surfactant granules with an inner core consisting of relatively long-chain alkyl sulfates or mixtures thereof with relatively short-chain homologs or alkyl ether sulfates and of a coating of relatively short-chain alkyl sulfates.
• the present invention also relates to a process for the production of the heterogeneous surfactant granules.
• Anionic surfactants are important components of laundry detergents, dishwashing detergents and cleaning compositions.
• anionic surfactants exhibit conventional behavior, i.e. their solubility increases more or less linearly with temperature until the solubility product is reached.
• anionic surfactants which also show adequate solubility in cold water.
• hydrotropes undoubtedly include the short-chain alkylaryl sulfonates such as, for example, toluene, xylene or cumene sulfonate. They are suitable, for example, as solubilizers for anionic and nonionic surfactants in the production of liquid detergents.
• solubilizers for anionic and nonionic surfactants in the production of liquid detergents.
• the improved solubility is probably attributable to advantageous mixed micelle formation. Reference is made in this connection to the review by H. Stache in Fette, Seifen, Anstrichmitt. 71, 381 (1969).
• the improvement in cold water solubility is normally achieved by adding surfactants with high HLB values, for example highly ethoxylated polyglycol ethers (tallow alcohol 40 EO adduct) or the like, to them as hydrotropes.
• surfactants with high HLB values for example highly ethoxylated polyglycol ethers (tallow alcohol 40 EO adduct) or the like, to them as hydrotropes.
• HLB values for example highly ethoxylated polyglycol ethers (tallow alcohol 40 EO adduct) or the like
• German patent application DE-A1 4030688 (Henkel) where it is proposed to dry water-containing surfactant pastes with superheated steam.
• the surfactant droplets are spontaneously heated to the boiling temperature of the water.
• a plurality of fine channels is formed in the surfactant granule as the water escapes.
• the large inner surface obtained in this way leads to a considerably improved dissolving rate, for example by comparison with conventionally spray-dried products. Nevertheless, the described process is attended by the disadvantage of high outlay on equipment.
• solid detergents of high apparent density and improved solubility are obtained by adding polyethylene glycol ethers with a molecular weight of 200 to 12,000 and preferably 200 to 600 to mixtures of anionic and nonionic surfactants and then drying and/or solidifying the resulting mixtures.
• Example 1 discloses a detergent formulation containing C 12/18 fatty alcohol sulfate, C 12/18 fatty alcohol 5 EO/C 16/18 tallow fatty alcohol 5 EO adduct and--based on the nonionic surfactants--not less than 45% by weight of polyethylene glycol with a molecular weight of around 400 which, after homogenization, is extruded and processed to granules.
• the dissolving rate of the solid detergents obtained is still not satisfactory.
• the presence of the large quantities of polymer required is undesirable.
• EP-A2 0208534 generally discloses spray-dried detergent formulations which, in addition to anionic surfactants, contain nonionic surfactants, polyacrylates and polyethylene glycol ethers with an average molecular weight of 1,000 to 20,000. According to the teaching of this document, the dispersibility of anionic surfactants can be improved by adding nonionic surfactants, polyethylene glycol ethers and polyacrylates to them.
• DE-OS 2124526 relates to foam-regulated detergent and cleaning mixtures.
• Example 6 discloses compositions which contain tallow alcohol sulfate, alkyl benzene sulfonate and polyethylene glycol with a molecular weight of around 20,000.
• the problem addressed by the present invention was to provide new formulations of alkyl sulfates which, even after mechanical compaction, would be light in color and would show improved solubility in cold water.
• the present invention relates to heterogenous surfactant granules consisting of an inner core containing
• R 1 is an alkyl radical containing 16 to 18 carbon atoms and X is an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal, ammonium, alkylammonium, alkanolammonium or glucammonium, and
• R 2 is an alkyl radical containing 12 to 14 carbon atoms and X is as defined above, and/or
• R 3 is an alkyl radical containing 16 to 18 carbon atoms
• n is a number of 1 to 3
• X is as defined above
• the ratio by weight of component a) to component b) in the inner core is 100:0 to 30:70 and preferably 90:10 to 70:30 and the ratio by weight of inner core to coating is 99.5:0.5 to 90:10.
• heterogeneous, alkyl sulfate granules with further improved solubility can be obtained when an inner core which contains the relatively long-chain alkyl sulfate, optionally in admixture with relatively short-chain homologs or selected alkyl ether sulfates, is encapsulated by granulation in a coating of a relatively short-chain alkyl sulfate of defined layer thickness.
• the present invention also relates to a process for the production of heterogeneous surfactant granules, in which a dry anionic surfactant powder containing
• R 1 is an alkyl radical containing 16 to 18 carbon atoms and X is an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal, ammonium, alkylammonium, alkanolammonium or glucammonium, and
• R 2 is an alkyl radical containing 12 to 14 carbon atoms and X is as defined above, and/or
• R 3 is an alkyl radical containing 16 to 18 carbon atoms
• n is a number of 1 to 3
• X is as defined above
• Alkyl sulfates and alkyl ether sulfates in the context of the present invention are the sulfation products of primary alcohols or ethylene oxide adducts thereof.
• relatively long-chain alkyl sulfates containing 16 to 18 carbon atoms which have particularly advantageous washing properties, may be used as component a).
• Typical examples of such alkyl sulfates are cetyl sulfate and stearyl sulfate and, preferably, tallow alkyl sulfate or technical mixtures of comparable composition.
• component a) may make up as much as 100% by weight of the inner core.
• a mixture which, in addition to component a), contains either even shorter alkyl sulfates containing 12 to 14 carbon atoms (component b1) and/or alkyl ether sulfates containing 16 to 18 carbon atoms and 1 to 3 and preferably around 2 ethylene oxide units (component b2) is preferably used.
• the ratio by weight between components a) and b) is normally in the range from 70:30 to 98:2 and is preferably in the range from 80:20 to 90:10.
• the coating of the inner core also consists of relatively short-chain alkyl sulfates containing 12 to 14 carbon atoms. Typical examples are lauryl sulfate, myristyl sulfate or technical mixtures, for example based on a cocofatty alcohol cut. Granulation is carried out in such a way that a coating with a layer thickness corresponding to 0.5 to 10% by weight, preferably 1 to 5% by weight and more preferably 1.5 to 2% by weight, based on the granules, is obtained.
• One particularly preferred embodiment of the invention is characterized by the use of alkyl sulfates which have a degree of sulfonation of 60 to 80 and preferably of around 70% by weight and which therefore still contain a significant proportion of unsulfonated starting materials for component a) and, more particularly, for component b1).
• the invention includes the observation that undersulfonated alkyl sulfates such as these as coatings for the inner surfactant core lead to a particularly light color.
• the substances which make up component a), i.e. the inner core, either on their own or in admixture are used as dry powders.
• a dry tallow alkyl sulfate powder may be produced, for example, by subjecting an aqueous sulfuric acid semiester of a corresponding tallow alcohol to spray neutralization after sulfation.
• a neutralized water-containing paste may also be dried in a conventional spray tower or with superheated steam (cf. DE-A1 4124701, Henkel).
• the inner core is to consist of a mixture of the C 16/18 alkyl sulfates with components b1) and/or b2)
• the mixtures may be prepared either mechanically by mixing the ingredients or by co-sulfation of the corresponding hydroxyl compounds.
• the sulfates are normally present as alkali metal salts and preferably as sodium salts.
• Granulation may be carried out continuously or discontinuously in known manner in a mixer/dryer, for example in a Lodige mixer, in a Drais mixer, in a Schugi mixer or in a Fukai mixer, or even in a fluidized bed.
• the heterogeneous surfactant granules are produced by coating a C 16/18 tallow alkyl sulfate powder with C 12/14 cocoalkyl sulfate using water as the granulation liquid.
• tallow alkyl sulfate powder or a powder-form mixture of tallow alkyl sulfate and lauryl sulfate or tallow alkyl 2 EO sulfate is coated with a 35% by weight or 65% by weight water-containing paste of lauryl sulfate.
• the surfactant granules according to the invention dissolve rapidly in cold water and in warm water and show improved dispensing behavior in washing machines. Another advantage is that their color quality is not adversely affected during their mechanical compaction.
• the surfactant granules according to the invention may be mixed or even agglomerated or extruded with other detergent ingredients and, accordingly, are suitable as raw materials for the production of solid detergents.
• a water-containing paste of C 16/18 tallow alkyl sulfate sodium salt with a solids content of around 50% by weight was dried with superheated steam.
• the water-free powder was then processed to granules in a Lodige mixer in the presence of added water.
• Comparison Example C1 was repeated.
• the water was replaced by a water-containing paste of lauryl sulfate sodium salt with a solids content of 35% by weight (Texapon® LS35, Henkel KGaA, Dusseldorf, FRG).
• the ratio by weight of inner core to coating was 1.5% by weight, based on the solids content of the granulation liquid.
• Comparison Example C1 was repeated.
• the water was replaced by a water-containing paste of lauryl sulfate sodium salt with a solids content of 35% by weight (Texapon® LS35, Henkel KGaA, Duseldorf, FRG).
• the ratio by weight of inner core to coating was 2.5% by weight, based on the solids content of the granulation liquid.
• Comparison Example C1 was repeated.
• the water was replaced by a water-containing paste of lauryl sulfate sodium salt with a solids content of 65% by weight (Texapon® LS35, Henkel KGaA, Duseldorf, FRG).
• the ratio by weight of inner core to coating was 1.5% by weight, based on the solids content of the granulation liquid.
• a water-containing paste of C 16/18 tallow alkyl sulfate sodium salt with a solids content of around 50% by weight was conventionally spray-dried.
• the water-free powder was mixed with a spray-neutralized powder of C 12/14 cocoalkyl sulfate sodium salt in a ratio by weight of 90:10 and then granulated in a Lodige mixer in the presence of a water-containing paste of lauryl sulfate sodium salt with a solids content of 35% by weight (Texapon® LS 35, Henkel KGaA, Duseldorf, FRG).
• the ratio by weight of inner core to coating was 1.5% by weight, based on the solids content of the granulation liquid.
• a spray-dried mixed powder consisting of C 16/18 tallow alkyl sulfate, C 12/14 cocoalkyl sulfate and C 16/18 tallow alcohol 1 EO sulfate (in the form of their sodium salts, ratio by weight 35:25:40) was granulated in a Lodige mixer in the presence of a water-containing paste of lauryl sulfate sodium salt with a solids content of 35% by weight.
• the ratio by weight of inner core to coating was 2% by weight, based on the solids content of the granulation liquid.
• Example 5 The procedure was as in Example 5, except that the spray-dried tallow alkyl sulfate was replaced by material dried with superheated steam.
• At least 90% by weight of all the granules investigated had a particle size of 0.2 to 1.4 mm.
• test results are set out in Table 1 (average of double determination, percentages as % by weight).
• Example 5 was repeated. However, granules of varying particle size distribution were produced by varying the speed of the mixer, the mass flow and the mixing time. The results are set out in Table 2:

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Citations (17)

• 1994
  • 1994-05-02 DE DE4415369A patent/DE4415369C1/de not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 1995
  • 1995-04-24 EP EP95918598A patent/EP0758374B1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1995-04-24 ES ES95918598T patent/ES2136851T3/es not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1995-04-24 US US08/732,422 patent/US5824633A/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1995-04-24 DE DE59506594T patent/DE59506594D1/de not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1995-04-24 WO PCT/EP1995/001544 patent/WO1995029981A1/de active IP Right Grant

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